Why Trump's immigration crackdown could overwhelm Colorado courts
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President-elect Trump speaks about immigration and border security in Arizona in August. Photo: Olivier Touron/AFP via Getty Images
Advocates and attorneys in Colorado and nationwide are gearing up to defend immigrants against "Operation Aurora" and the mass deportations that President-elect Trump has threatened once in office.
Why it matters: Roughly 162,000 undocumented immigrants live in Colorado. In addition to deportations, Trump's proposals would transform how the U.S. has conducted immigration enforcement for decades.
What they're saying: Advocates stand ready to fight for immigrants, ramp up "know your rights" training and solidify the state's status as a welcoming place for newcomers.
- "We have to work to ensure our cities are places of safety and not targets for political agendas," Nita Gonzales, a Latina community activist, told the Denver Post.
- Any unlawful actions the U.S. government takes in Colorado will be challenged in court, state Rep. Mike Weissman, an Aurora Democrat, added.
The big picture: Colorado's immigration court has a severe backlog of cases and a shortage of attorneys to represent people seeking asylum or facing deportation, a three-part investigative series from the Colorado Sun revealed.
- Trump's crackdown on immigration, starting as soon as Day 1 of his second term, could force tens of thousands of Colorado's undocumented immigrants into the overwhelmed system.
By the numbers: As of September, nearly 78,000 cases are pending in Colorado's immigration court in Denver — up a staggering 332% since 2021 amid an influx of immigrants from the southern border, according to data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.
- That roughly breaks down to more than 7,100 cases per judge and about 1,600 per attorney.
- Meanwhile, the state ranks last in the nation for the share of people navigating the immigration system with help from a lawyer, at about 15%, the Sun found.
Threat level: 85% of immigrants without an attorney from 1997–2024 lost their cases and were deported, according to a May report by the left-leaning Colorado Fiscal Institute.
Between the lines: It's difficult to fill out asylum applications without a lawyer, especially in a non-native language, immigrant advocates say.
- "If one of your addresses is wrong, the Department of Homeland Security attorney is going to tear you apart … Everything about it is a life or death thing," Colorado Asylum Center executive director Christina Brown told the Sun.
State of play: Immigrant attorneys say the backlog, combined with inadequate legal resources, underscores the need for systemic immigration reform.
What's next: Immigration advocates are calling for a national public defender system, similar to what's used in criminal courts, so that anyone facing possible deportation who can't afford an attorney would be assigned one by the federal government.
- They also want more funding for legal defense. Although Colorado passed a 2021 law creating an immigrant legal defense fund — allocating $700,000 this year — advocates say it's still a drop in the bucket.
Reality check: At least two pieces of Democratic-led legislation focused on immigration reform have been proposed in Congress, but they're unlikely to advance with Republicans in full control of the federal government next year.